Vivirás
by The Immaterial Girl
Summary: In this battle between Heaven and Hell, Earth stands in the middle. After his violent death, Heero becomes an Archangel, determined to make sure the woman he died protecting escapes his fate. He meets a roadblock in the form of an untrained fire child.
1. Death

**Title: **_Vivirás (Spanish, **you will live**)_  
><strong>Genre:<strong> _Paranormal Action Drama_  
><strong>Rating:<strong> _PG-13 or T (for language and violence)_  
><strong>Summary:<strong> _In this battle between Heaven and Hell, Earth stands in the middle-and Heero Yuy is charged to help defend Earth's mortals in his afterlife. After his violent death, Heero becomes an Archangel, determined to make sure that the woman he died protecting doesn't succumb to the same fate. Unfortunately, he encounters a slight roadblock-in the form of an untrained fire child._  
><strong>Author's Notes:<strong> _I started this on a snowy night in January and it's not really anything profound, just a simple writing exercise, so there are concepts, details, and characters that are not as well-defined as they could be. The idea of Heero being an Archangel spawned from a story I did with one of my best friends Rachel. Not to mention, you can probably guess who the fire child is. I apologize if anyone is out-of-character or if this is unbearable. _

_Please read and review. :)_

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><p><strong>Music:<strong> _"Yuki no Hana" by Mika Nakashima, "(Baby) I Want You Gone" by Agnes, "Every Heart (Instrumental)" by BoA_

**0.0**

Those last moments had been in the cold, in the dead of night when shadows attempt to extinguish the light from the world.

His last living memories were of her tear-filled blue eyes gazing at him across the snowy ground and the cold sidewalk against his bruised cheek. The droplets from her eyes had made holes in the white crystals that had fallen from the sky and blanketed the Earth, innocent amid the blood and gore that stained the snow a macabre crimson. Dimly he realized that this was his life splattered everywhere on the ground; due to the large amount of red on all of the surfaces around them, he had a feeling his life was soon ending.

With trembling fingers, he touched her hand, the only thing within reach. That incited more tears from her, and she inched her fingers closer to him.

"Don't leave me," she pleaded in a voice that was barely above a stage whisper. "You can survive this. Just hold on a little bit longer..."

His injuries were legion, and exsanguination threatened to snuff out his life with every passing moment. He was aware enough to face the reality of his impending demise. He wished he could live, just for her.

"I am dying, Relena," he managed. "I cannot stop it. My injuries...are too severe."

"No," she wept. "We can save you. Just hold on a little bit longer."

His mind flashed upon their attack, remembering the force of his assailant crashing into him with its claws bared. Luckily, she had been unconscious throughout most of the assault, leaving him to protect her without her trying to get in the way. But his body had suffered in ways a living body could not survive. Sheer will had had him emptying his gun clip into the mysterious creature that had appeared while they had been on the way from back her car to the banquet they'd gotten all dressed up for. He hoped by now-mostly for her sake and not his-someone noticed that they had not returned.

His eyes fluttered as the darkness overtook him. She clutched his hand with her own, and a bit of life sparked inside of him.

"I can't keep doing this..." he whispered. "My life...is going to end..."

"Then mine will, too."

It almost swallowed him whole, that yawning black, but he fought it despite his earlier statement. He had to say this. "You...live... World...needs you..."

"And the world needs you, too," she insisted.

He disagreed but was too tired to argue. He heard the sirens now but he knew they were too late. Too much of him was gone for him to care about his own lost life. He had achieved his objective this once, when it mattered. His only regret was that he would not be able to protect her from future danger. He didn't know how he knew, but that monster would be back.

"Mission...incomplete..." he choked out. She clutched his hand again but it failed to spark him. Sound fled him first as if the clamor was being sucked up into a large vacuum, then touch faded away. His last breath came out in a pitiful puff of steam.

He focused on her battered face until it was replaced with complete darkness.

**0.1**

They looked down at the Earth with their omniscient eyes, taking in every joy, every triumph with the same reaction as every failure, every heartbreak. All of them had been living for many centuries and were not moved by what they saw before them. The death of a mere human was as commonplace as blinking. When Heero Yuy died, the Sentinel of Shirohoshi did not so much as bat an eyelash.

Then she swung into the room, bringing Emotion along with her.

She was undoubtedly the leader here, whether they liked it or not. She was over three thousand years old, but didn't appear to be a day over thirty-five. Her long blond hair fell in wavy cascades down her shoulders and back, and usually her blue-eyed gaze was serene. Tonight, it blazed with fury and threatened to sear anything in her path.

The Sentinel looked up in unison at the entrance of the Prophet. She paused, hands clenched into fists, and swept a rather displeased look upon them. If looks could kill, they'd all be covered in cream cheese as the Prophet's toast.

"You have some explaining to do," she remarked tightly.

The oldest Sentinel, Malcolm, spoke first. "I hardly believe there is any need for your brusqueness, Ingrid."

"And I hardly believe there is any need for your impertinence," Ingrid snapped, her accent making her words clipped. "I don't know if you've noticed, but this is the Shirohoshi Constellation-not Malcolm's Celestial Playhouse of Perpetual Clusterfuck. I am the White Star Prophet and you do answer to me. I said you have some explaining to do. So explain why one of those fucking demon beasts is roaming the Earth and slaying mortals _without my knowledge_."

The other Sentinel winced at Ingrid's language. Malcolm seemed perturbed she would speak to him that way. Much to his dismay, he was the older, more experienced of the two of them and she had turned out to be the Prophet. The first female Prophet in their ageless history. And half-mortal to top it all off.

He squelched the urge to strike her and addressed her implied question.

"We did not know the being had been summoned until it was too late," Malcolm explained. "Whoever summoned it was masterful at cloaking its power signature."

Ingrid suppressed a growl and called up several freeze-frame stills onto the screens before them. The Sentinel shifted nervously in their seats as much as jaded centuries-old beings could.

"Fifty-five hundred deaths," Ingrid ground out as she mentally flipped through the images on screen. "Fifty-five hundred innocent people slain because of a fucking oversight. This did not just happen overnight. It takes years for something this powerful to burst onto the mortal realm and kill like this."

"We are hardly psychics, Ingrid," Malcolm argued. "We have done all we could. Mortals violently die every day and we can barely keep up with this creature."

Anger mounting and staining her pale cheeks red, Ingrid replayed the violent death of Heero Yuy, the demon beast's latest victim. Ingrid noticed a telltale twitch in Malcolm's left cheek. Yeah, can't take the heat can you? Bastard.

"If this is all you could do, I'd hate to think what fate is in store for humankind," Ingrid shot back.

"Humankind is destined to fail." One of Malcolm's cronies, a Sentinel named Philip, spoke up and earned a glare from Ingrid. Perhaps he was emboldened by his friend talking back to their mistress, or just plain stupid, but he continued with his statement. "Why should we try and stop the inevitable?"

Her anger mounted to unimaginable limits, and a ripple of power moved through the room. Ingrid was old enough to know how to bank most of her power; the simple outburst would have incinerated the room if she had let it flow unchecked.

"Because, you thoughtless fool, if we allow something to ravage the mortal world, what would stop it from coming here?" Ingrid demanded.

"Our world is protected from such beings," Malcolm argued. "We have safeguards that the mortal world is too primitive to use."

"And that is what we are here for," Ingrid shot back. "We are given the duty to protect all living creatures with evil. Your function is to monitor and forewarn against danger in any realm, for they are all ours." She lowered a weighty stare upon him and saw his fury bobbing underneath the veneer of superior calm. "If you fancy yourself one of these safeguards, Malcolm, I believe we probably would all perish."

Malcolm had no response for that. Incensed, Ingrid swung out of the room and teleported to Astrophil where Queen Stella and the Celestial Council were.

**0.2**

On Astrophil, the home realm of the Angels and the training ground for Archangels, Queen Stella of the Legion of Angels and the Celestial Council received her big sister with a troubled heart.

The dilemma of the mysterious demon beast on Earth had already reached Stella's ears, and she found herself as incensed with Ingrid's Sentinel as Ingrid herself was. They had been discussing broaching the subject of the Sentinel's failure to act with the Celestial Council as well, and the sisters could not agree whether to wait or act now. The eradication of the beast was their main concern.

"This has horrible ramifications," Stella remarked. "If a demon beast with this much power is moving about the mortal realm, it could do significant damage."

Ingrid said nothing; Stella had only vocalized what she had feared the moment she discovered what had been happening. She moved to the window, her sky blue robe fluttering around her slender frame. She watched the Archangel recruits on the training ground as Stella moved around behind her.

"I could send some Archangels to fix the problem," Stella suggested. She moved to her desk and sent a memo to the Archangel Commander about the situation. Ingrid continued to stare out of the window as disquiet rolled around within her.

"We can rid the Earth of the beast, but that doesn't address the concern of its creator," Ingrid pointed out grimly. "That worries me more than the beast itself."

Stella pursed her lips together for a moment before opening her mouth to speak. She was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"You may enter," she called out.

A moment passed, and then the ornate double doors came open to reveal a petite woman with dark skin behind it. She was dressed in full Archangel Regalia, but her wings were tucked in considerably, diminishing her usual intimidating presence. Severely cut black hair fell to sturdy shoulders, framing a face that was built better for smiling, but Anita Arnold wasn't known for her winsome smile. She was notorious for her blade, however, which suited her just fine.

"Your Highness," Anita began as the doors closed behind her, "I was on my way up here when I received your memo. There is a pressing matter I need to discuss with you."

Stella marred her pretty features with a frown. "Anita, what is the matter?"

"One of the new recruits, Your Highness," Anita responded. "I believe he might be able to help you with your problem on Earth."

Stella's brow crinkled pensively; Ingrid meanwhile continued to stare down at the sparring as Stella peppered Anita with questions and rebuttals.

"But there is no way we could send a newbie Archangel to Earth," Stella was saying. "Anita, you know the rules!"

"I know of the fifty years of training that an Archangel must endure before he or she is allowed to walk the Earth once again," Anita said. "I understand the reasoning behind the edict. However, Your Highness, I am asking you to make exception for these extenuating circumstances."

"If I make exception now-" Stella began.

"With all due respect, my Queen, I think the situation warrants some drastic action. Exceptions have to be made." Stella's jaw set, signaling her contrary sentiments. "Please do not dismiss my idea until you see his potential."

Stella huffed, showing her age. "Fine."

Anita bowed deeply, then motioned to the window where Ingrid was standing.

Stella walked over to the window and stood dubiously beside her sister. Anita soon joined her, scanning the sparring matches until she saw the right one to suit her demonstration.

"Right there, near the entrance to the northern fields," Anita said. "The one with the dark hair. That is him."

Stella and Ingrid both looked where Anita instructed. A young man, not quite thirty, was sparring with one of Anita's better captains. His expression was schooled to blankness, but his features were still striking even without expression. As an Angel, the perimortem injuries he had sustained were gone. The loose Astrophil-issue white pants and shirt failed to hide his musculature, clinging to him as he moved fluidly around his opponent.

"When did he come to Astrophil?" Stella wanted to know.

"Your Highness," Anita responded in a slightly awed tone as if she were about to reveal a phenomenon, "he is very newly dead."

The sisters shared a look of astonishment. Most often, the newly dead suffered from acute disorientation caused by their new state of being. It usually took a couple of weeks for even the most gifted mortal to be at a cognitive state. For a mortal to enter Astrophil fully aware of his or her senses was akin to a demon walking through the Gate, a rarity. Brow furrowed, Ingrid turned back to the window and peered more intently at the fight as Stella stared thoughtfully into space. Her mind raced with the new information as something brimmed at the edge of it, a revelation of sorts.

"Commander," Ingrid said slowly, "what is the name of this gentleman?"

"Hiroshi Yuy, if I am not mistaken."

_Hiroshi Yuy_. Ingrid mentally flipped through her vast memory for the place where she had heard that name. It did not take long; she had only watched him die tragically moments before. She watched as he felled his opponent with a swipe of the sword. Once the fight was truly over, he put the sword away and helped the Captain to his feet. Ingrid silently admired him for his honor. A sudden gust of wind blew his shirt and pants against his body, giving everyone a peek at his body underneath the cloth. He seemed to care less; however, more than a few female recruits craned their necks to look at him.

"Well, you know what my vote's gonna be," Stella said with an impish grin.

Anita had the grace not to react while Ingrid sweatdropped. "Trust Stella to be bowled over not by the fact that he adept at fighting but by the fact that he looks like an underwear model..."

Stella held her grin and went to her desk to formulate a persuasive argument for the rest of the Celestial Council.


	2. Danie

**Title: **_Vivirás (Spanish, **you will live**)_  
><strong>Genre:<strong> _Paranormal Action Drama_  
><strong>Rating:<strong> _PG-13 or T (for language and violence)_  
><strong>Summary:<strong> _In this battle between Heaven and Hell, Earth stands in the middle-and Heero Yuy is charged to help defend Earth's mortals in his afterlife. After his violent death, Heero becomes an Archangel, determined to make sure that the woman he died protecting doesn't succumb to the same fate. Unfortunately, he encounters a slight roadblock in the form of an untrained fire child._  
><strong>Author's Notes:<strong> _In the story I did with my best friend Rachel, Heero dies and returns to Earth as an Archangel, but he is so remarkable that his superiors excuse the fifty years of training that an Archangel must have and allow him to go back immediately to protect his loved ones from evil. I did a similar thing here, except for his invisibility; Rachel helped me come up with that later. Heero can return to Earth every five years for forty-eight hours, but in this story his presence is a little more permanent. Not to mention, Ingrid, Commander Arnold, Queen Stella, and Ferdinand were not in the original story. I have a special spot in my writer's heart for Dr. Ferdinand Bradley. I created him after I developed a particular fondness for the Tenth Doctor on Doctor Who (who doesn't love David Tennant?) so Dr. Bradley might remind you of him._

_And Astrophil and Stella? Not an accident. ;)_

_Please read and review. :)_

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><p><strong>Music:<strong>_ "Girl You Know It's True" by Milli Vanilli, "Easy" by BoA, "Let Your Head Go" by Victoria Beckham, "Take Me Home" by the Spice Girls_

**1.0**

_Five years later_

It was Friday, and Daniella Thomas was ready to get plastered.

It had been a stressful week for her. On Sunday, She had been unceremoniously dumped on her ass in front of her closest family and friends at her own wedding, then had to endure the press coverage of her embarrassing incident. On Monday, her oldest daughter had gotten into a fight at school because a classmate had taunted Danie and had ended up suspended. On Tuesday, she had lost a major endorsement deal due to all of the madness. On Wednesday, she started on her period unexpectedly and ruined her favorite pair of Versace pants. No amount of dry cleaning could save them. Then to top it all off, on Thursday, she had to come across the bastard with his new main squeeze while out with her best friend Miranda Willard.

She had almost set the place on fire.

Luckily Miranda had had the foresight to dump the water pitcher over her head and gotten her the hell out of there before the Inferno took place in the dining room at Morelli's. When she had calmed down, she profusely thanked her friend for her quick thinking. Besides, how could she explain to the police, the press, and the men in the white jackets who would inevitably lock up her fiery ass that she could summon fire?

Though, now that she thought about it, the press may have been fine. Being a government lab rat, not so much.

She could hear her daughters chattering with her little sister, their Aunt Gretchen. She was talking about streaking down a hotel hallway in Glasgow during The Fray's last tour. Danie sighed. She'd had her wild-child moments, but she figured she wouldn't help her daughters' rearing—particularly Shannon—f she didn't put in an appearance now.

Danie strode to the living room and paused in the doorway. Gretchen was sitting on the couch with her legs folded like a pretzel. Shannon sat on the floor in front of her with a carton of Ben and Jerry's chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream while Abigail occupied the armchair nearby. On her downtime, Gretchen looked a little less cartoonish than the youngest member of the Fray usually appeared, opting for less makeup and more subdued colors. The more she aged, she became "downtime" Gretchen more often. Danie was secretly proud to see her baby sister becoming a woman amid her own personal troubles.

"And then Chris Kirkpatrick—" Gretchen was saying.

Shannon marred her pretty features with a frown and froze before licking cookie dough off her spoon. "Who is that?"

Abigail, again sharing her wealth of knowledge, replied primly, "He is the oldest member of the boy band *NSYNC. He also did the voice of Chip Skylark on the _Fairly Oddparents_."

_Pause._

Shannon blinked at her twin. "Who?"

Gretchen sweatdropped and sighed, as the humor of her tale was threatening to be lost. "Never mind about who the stupid guy from *NYSYNC is exactly. The point is, when it was Sam's turn to go streaking down the hallway, she saw Chris Kirkpatrick and stopped. He was standing there gawking at her since she was butt ass naked, and then she started singing 'Tearin' Up My Heart' in Welsh at the top of her lungs."

Imagining her cousin doing something so comedic, Danie couldn't help but cackle, and her presence was revealed. As Gretchen looked up, mirth softened her eyes. She was relieved to see Danie laughing after—

"Stop looking at me like I just lost the love of my life in a tragic but improbable accident," Danie snapped, violet eyes narrowed.

Gretchen squirmed in her seat. "Well…" _You kinda did_, she thought, but she didn't dare say it aloud.

But Danie was well-attuned to the thought process of her baby sister and leveled a glare upon Gretchen.

"I didn't even say it," Gretchen muttered grumpily. "I at least get credit for that."

"If it had been Aunt Jess, she would have blasted you as soon as you walked into the room," Shannon pointed out, twisting around slightly and looking up at Danie.

"She does have a point, Mom," Abigail concurred gently.

Danie huffed and rolled her eyes. Mouth set in a hard line, she peered down at her eldest and raised an eyebrow at the Ben and Jerry's. "Shannon Marieanne—" she began in a chiding voice.

It was Shannon's turn to roll her eyes. "I only had two bites! Geez!"

"It's almost time for bed," Danie reminded her. "You don't need to be eating ice cream before bedtime. It is not good for you. You want to fit into your cheerleading uniform don't you?"

Shannon lifted her chin defiantly. "I could care less about that stupid squad."

Danie's mouth fell open as Gretchen let out a shocked gasp.

"What?" Danie managed.

"Are you sick?" Gretchen asked at the same time.

Before Shannon could say anything, Abigail explained, "They kicked her off the squad for beating up Shane Huntington the Third."

"You'd plow your fist into his ugly face too if you heard how he was talking about Mom the way he was," Shannon muttered.

Danie sighed, feeling tired all of a sudden. Under normal circumstances, she would have stalked to the telephone and called the cheerleading coach to curse her out. But these were far from normal circumstances, and instead she felt herself almost toppled by a wave of exhaustion.

It must have shown in her eyes, because Shannon placed the ice cream on the coffee table and rose to face her mother. Abigail rose from the couch and joined her twin.

"I'm sorry Mom," Shannon said in a voice that instantly sent a pang through Danie's heart.

Danie sighed, and reached out to touch Shannon's hair, dark as her own. "You can't help any of this." With a shake of her head, she added, "Maybe I should stay home tonight..."

"No, Mom," Abigail disagreed firmly. "You need this time to have fun after the week you had. You've been cooped up in the house all week."

"And you've been really mopey," Shannon supplied, as if it bore mentioning. "And I know for a fact that you went through a whole package of pecan shortbread cookies during _Young and the Restless_ Thursday. I think a major reversal is in order." Danie narrowed her eyes at Shannon.

It was Abigail's turn to sigh. "Shan, that was a little mean, don't you think?"

"I can't help it if the truth hurts!" Shannon's head turned to the direction of the door when a loud horn blast broke through the stillness of the night. She moved around Danie and started pushing her toward the door.

"But you just can't just kick me out!" Danie protested. "I am the grown-up here, not you!"

"Major reversal, in effect," Shannon reminded her while grunting, for Danie wasn't exactly easy to push; she was several inches taller and some pounds heavier. "Besides, Aunt Randa would kick your ass if you backed out right now."

Danie's mouth fell open but she was bombarded by her purse and keys and could not address Shannon's language. She sputtered something along the lines of _I ought to ground you for a month,_ but Shannon threw open the door.

Danie stumbled onto the porch and gaped at her eldest. Where had this audacity come from?

When Danie had asked this exact question, Shannon just grinned impishly at her and said, "Have a good time!"

Danie barely caught her cell phone before Shannon unceremoniously slammed the door in her face. "You're grounded for this!" Danie yelled at the closed door. Shannon's cackle came through the door, and the air shimmered with heat as her anger built…

…When unexpectedly, she felt something downy brush her cheek, like the light caress of a lover's fingertip. The heat and anger snapped off as if controlled by a switch and confusion took its place. Danie frowned and pulled a black feather from the ends of her hair. She found herself looking upward, trying to find from where the feather had come. She searched the space above her until she spied a shadow in the sky.

She peered at the shadow as it began to take on a discernable form. It appeared to be human, and judging from the stature, most likely male. She would have noted his toned body and attractive face under normal circumstances. However, since it appeared that the mysterious shadow sported a pair of black wings, and she held a black feather in her hand, these were far from normal circumstances.

Then in a blink, the shadow was gone.

"No way," Danie whispered in awe, eyes luminous.

"Danie!" bellowed Miranda, attracting her attention. "Are you going to just stand there staring at the sky or are we going to get our drink on?"

Danie tore herself away from the strange sight, muttering under her breath in Spanish about how crazy her best friend was.

She hopped into the car, surrounded by the throbbing beat of "Girl You Know It's True." She closed herself inside, momentarily forgetting about the last few moments. However, she couldn't shake the vague feeling that something monumental was going to happen tonight.

**1.1**

The world had changed so much in five years, and yet it was still the same.

Heero Yuy had been absent from this realm for a mere five years, but somehow the time that had passed seemed more lengthy, more consequential. If he had been less focused on the task and more intent on rationalizing his reasons, he would have learned that the reason time had seemed so long had been the things he no longer had as an immortal.

He was an Archangel now; according to Commander Arnold, he was one of the best she had ever trained. He had heard rumblings of a promotion after this particular assignment, but he paid them no heed. He would look no further than now.

He was where he had needed to be.

Walking down Gracia Row, Heero sidestepped the teeming crowd. He was not allowed to have physical contact with mortals; his mission relied on his invisibility. Most Archangel missions did, which was why one could not touch a mortal. To touch a mortal would make him noticeable. With a bumbling, touchy-feely crowd like this, it was just better to stay on the outskirts.

He paused to gauge his surroundings; after years of research, they learned the demon beasts were particularly attracted to scenes of revelry, and there was nothing more clamorous at this moment than the Blue Rendezvous.

From what he observed from the general area, the Rendezvous was the loudest, the most flashy, the most decadent. Compared to the purity of Astrophil, it was like being submerged in mud, oddly burdensome and extremely unpleasant. Taking in a deep breath, he walked toward the club, skirting mortals like they were puddles of quicksand.

Because these demon beasts would not enter buildings with large groups of people, Heero strode toward the back of the building, where it was dark and deserted.

Being an Archangel had opened up his senses to things that he wasn't able to notice when he was human, and the first thing that he caught was the horrid stench of waste. Also with the heightened senses came a heightened acceptance; he merely pushed it aside and tried to detect anything else that might signal the presence of his quarry.

The familiar scent of beast hit him at the same time a shady-looking young man came flying over his head, body marred with mortal ruptures and clutching a lavender purse that obviously had been commandeered by dishonest means. The body hit the ground with a sickening crunch, but the sound didn't register in Heero's mind; the shaky breaths of another mortal occupied his focus.

Using his Academy-acquired super speed, Heero flashed himself to the edge of the scene.

A tall woman with dark hair clad in a lavender halter-top and jeans (_the purse must have been hers, _Heero mused) crouched in a defensive stance in front of the snarling monster. She held a pipe in her hand, and Heero sensed that she was a bit afraid. Exasperation tinged the fear, however.

"Okay you…thing," the woman said firmly. "I don't know where you came from and I promise not to hurt you, but if Daniel Williams sent you as a joke to rub this whole fucking week in my face, I'll turn you into a monster pot pie, got it?"

Despite the severity of the situation, Heero couldn't help but roll his eyes. _Really, lady? A monster pot pie?_ The beast growled its disapproval and leaned toward her.

"Don't test me, Cujo," she snapped. "I've got cramps _really_ bad right now and that asshole who you so conveniently batted away like a fly has my purse with Midol in it, so my patience is a little thin. In short: _don't fuck with me_."

Evidently, the demon beast knew nothing about menstrual cramps, so the implication of the woman's statement was lost on it. It found the woman's threat useless and lunged for her. She swung the pipe as hard as she could, and the blow met the beast's head and sent it reeling temporarily.

When it recovered from the hit, it bellowed loudly and swiped at the woman, sending her to the ground. Fortunately, its claws didn't catch her. She tried to shake the disorientation but the beast was bearing down on her…

_My cue,_ Heero thought, and leapt into the scene.

He landed six inches in front of her and caught the beast as it tried to tackle the mortal. Stronger than he had been when he had been a mortal himself, Heero grappled with the beast and threw it back a few feet. The woman got to her feet, and much to Heero's dismay, she recovered the pipe.

"Shit," Heero muttered. "I wish she would just get the point and flee…" The beast nicked him on the arm while he was distracted. He moved to extract his sword, but the beast lashed out at him again, sending him into a brick wall.

Eyes wide and searching all around her, the woman muttered, "What is going on?" Not getting the answer she wanted, she narrowed her eyes at the beast, who had noticed her once again. "You want a fight? Bring it. I'm not going down without a fight."

Heero wished at that moment that she could see him so that he could tell her to run, but he knew deep inside that would cause more trouble than it was worth. He watched in disbelief as she hurled the pipe at it, and the injured howl was evidence of her clever aim. Recovering angry as ever, the beast lumbered for her.

"Dammit…" Heero clambered to his feet, willing himself toward her before it was too late. The beast's claw came perilously close to her neck. Forgetting the good sense of his training, he instinctively grabbed her arm so that he could move her away just in time.

He twisted himself deftly so that the claw scraped his back and not the fragile skin on her neck. As he seemed to materialize before her eyes, she gripped his shoulders tightly. They hit the ground hard, but his forearms painfully absorbed most of the shock.

The woman's sharp intake of breath would have stopped his heart if it were still beating. "Ohmigod—where the hell did you come from?"

_Pause._

"You can see me," Heero said in awe.

The woman blinked as if he'd said the sky was green. "Uh yeah, I can see you. Why the hell wouldn't I be able to see you?"

Heero tried to think of an appropriate response to her question that wouldn't expose who and what he was (another big no-no) when the beast growled, seemingly recovered from its injuries. His attention shifted, and he produced his sword from its sheath. She gaped, for that was now visible to her, too.

"God, that's a really big blade." She flicked at glance downward. "I hope that doesn't mean you're overcompensating for something."

As the beast tensed and snarled at Heero, he rolled his eyes and rose to a fighting stance. "Trust me lady, the size of my package is the least of your worries right now."

The woman looked affronted. "Just trying to lighten the mood..."

"Nothing about this is even funny!" Heero remarked as he struck the beast with the sword. The beast lashed out and knocked the sword from his grasp. It clattered to the concrete behind him, where the woman was. He threw off the beast with an astral blast and then whirled around. Before he could warn her, the woman reached out...

"Don't—" Heero managed.

...And picked up Heero's sword.

Dread pooled in Heero's belly. During training, Anita had told all of the recruits the consequence of a mortal brandishing an Archangel's weapon. The components of their weapons were so corrosive that only immortals could wield them. Since they were charged with protecting the mortal realm, such carelessness was an insult to their cause.

Forgetting the danger in his midst, he moved toward her, fully intending to get the weapon away from her before something happened.

"Give it to me, now!" Heero ordered, voice booming in the alley.

The woman stared at him puzzledly. "What's the problem? It's just metal. What's so special about it?"

"I couldn't even begin to tell you," Heero ground out. The beast started to pick itself up, and anxiety filled Heero. _"Give it back to me!"_

The woman eyed him, and a strange light came into her eyes. She still gripped the sword. She was supposed to be writhing with pain, moaning in discomfort. Instead, she looked at him as if she were holding a butter knife. _Who is this woman? And even more importantly..._what_ is she?_

Two things happened at once: Heero dove for the woman, intending to get his sword back, but she launched it at the beast as if it were a javelin.

Her eyes—now gleaming with a tawny sheen—narrowed and the blade caught fire. The flaming projectile sword caught the beast in the chest in mid-leap. A piercing death howl filled the space. Heero watched in wonder as the monster went aflame and started to turn into little balls of light.

"You have got to be kidding me," Heero muttered to no one in particular. He climbed to his feet and turned to the woman, who was blinking rapidly as if she had been woken from sleep. The tawny cast had left her eyes.

"Get down," he said urgently.

She looked at him as if seeing him for the first time. "Huh?"

Growling under his breath, Heero merely tackled her to the ground and covered the woman with his body. This close, he was aware of her pulse, her unique scent, the fact that she was menstruating. And something else lingered inside of her, something that blazed with an intensity that he had never encountered in any realm. As the beast's spirit expired, and jagged bits of its evil flowed over them like pieces of glass, that mysterious blazing ignited something within him.

The alley went white, and they disappeared.

**1.2**

When Danie could see again, she found herself in a place that resembled a conference room. She didn't think it was a conference room anyway. Would a mere conference room be made out of gold and marble?

"My God," said a female voice from somewhere in the room. "How did a _mortal _get on Astrophil?"

Danie's head jerked up as the guy moved away from her and she saw that they were not alone in the room. Several people sat at the table and a beautiful woman with blond hair clad in pale green stood at the head of the table, gazing at them with awe. She had been the one who had spoken.

Danie peered at everything in wonder. Where was the alley outside of the club? How had they gotten there? And what the hell was _Astrophil?_ It sounded like some kind of manufacturing plant for something uber-futuristic and hard to pronounce. However, she had a feeling that this was no plant, unless robes had become standard dress in manufacturing somehow.

This night was becoming more and more surreal...

"Um..." Danie felt strangely nervous, like she were expected to make a speech in front of these people. She scanned the impassive faces. Tough crowd. "Well..."

"Speak quickly, mortal," snapped one of the occupants of the table. "We've no time for you tripping on your tongue."

Danie raised an eyebrow. She knew when she was being insulted. "Say what, now?"

Sensing that Danie's ire was rising, and any action that she took would certainly land them both in the Nether Regions for all eternity, the guy spoke instead. "We encountered one of the demon beasts on Earth—"

The blonde went ashen. _"We?"_ She looked to the ceiling anxiously and called out, "Ingrid!"

Danie snuck a look at the guy, who had suddenly tensed. As if conjured from air, another blonde appeared beside the woman who had summoned her. She looked slightly older, and her blond hair was longer. She was clad in white and wore an anxious expression as she stared at the first blonde.

"Stella," the second blonde began, "what is the matter?"

Stella, the first blonde, exhaled deliberately as if she had been holding her breath and responded, "We were having a meeting about the seraphim on Cloud Nine when Heero flashed himself and this mortal here to Astrophil."

Turning away from Stella, she turned to the guy, whose name was Heero, apparently. Danie was sharp enough to catch that, at least. "Heero, did anyone summon you back to Astrophil?"

"No," replied Heero. "I assure you, Ingrid, that this was purely an accident and I will return this mortal immediately—"

As her mind began to piece together the implications of this, Danie whirled on the man standing beside her. "So _you _brought me here?" she interrupted him.

"I said it was an accident," Heero snapped back. "I hardly did it to ruin your night on the town amid the drunken masses."

"Oh yeah right," Danie retorted dubiously. "And I'm sure that weird monster thing was an accident, too, huh?"

At the sound of Danie's voice, the blonde named Ingrid went still and gazed at her. She felt uneasy under Ingrid's intense scrutiny and took a step back. Wordlessly, Ingrid glided across the room to her, expression blank now.

When she was a foot away, she stopped...and reached out to touch Danie's forehead. Her fingertips merely grazed Danie's skin, and Danie felt an otherworldly jolt. She jumped as if shocked and her legs buckled from beneath her.

Danie sat on the floor, mind reeling, body hot. The occupants of the conference table watched in rapt interest as Ingrid looked at her hand as if had acted without her consent. After a tense moment, Ingrid raised her gaze to them.

"She is a fire child," Ingrid revealed breathlessly.

_Pause._

Everyone stared at Danie. She wasn't sure what they saw, but whatever they had seen made them gasp in unison. If she hadn't been so nauseated, it would have been the perfect moment for an impertinent remark, as was her way. It would have been better than having her ass to the ground like a like some wimpy school kid.

"Her eyes," murmured Stella. "They look...different..."

Danie ground her teeth together. _Well, no shit, Sherlock!_ It had been one of the tells, one no one could understand when she was growing up. Sometimes before she lost her temper, her eyes changed, and everyone chalked it up to emotion; after all, Danie had the reputation of being quite hotheaded.

Little did they know...they had no idea _how_ hotheaded.

"This happened in the alley right before she incinerated my sword," Heero reported, making Danie sicker with the thought. She figured that was a no-no, and didn't want to think about the possible punishment. The world went a little more blurry so she closed her eyes.

The room erupted with talk. She wasn't sure what Ingrid had done to her, but Ingrid's touch had made her so muddled that the voices blended into one clamorous din, and it threatened to turn her stomach even more. Another wave of heat produced moisture on her forehead. She could hardly sit up on her own, so she placed her palms on the floor and leaned on her arms for leverage.

"_Silence!"_ Ingrid boomed. The clamor ceased and Danie let out a huff of relief…that turned out to be a quick jet of fire. It caught a piece of paper and sent it blazing to the marble floor.

"Oops," she whispered sheepishly. "Hope that wasn't important."

Heero moved forward and quickly put it out. He knelt down next to her—she could sense it was him—but for some odd reason he didn't touch her. Don't worry—it's not contagious.

"Look at her!" bleated one of the voices at the table. "She is an abomination! She is a mortal with a diabolical ability and she must be destroyed." This inflammatory comment—no pun intended—caused a comeback of the uproar. Pain bloomed so intense that white erupted behind her eyes.

"_I__** thought**__ I said __**silence**__!"_ Ingrid boomed again, sounding exceedingly furious this time. "The next one of you disobedient, judgmental sons of bitches who speaks will be banished to the Nether Regions for their disrespect-understood?"

No one was thickheaded enough to speak.

However, a question was swirling in Heero's head…"What is so horrifying about fire children?"

There was a pause while Stella and Ingrid stared at each other, communicating silently. At the table, a messy-haired, glasses-wearing Celestial Council member raised his hand respectfully, and Ingrid turned to him, lips pursed. After a beat, she asked in a voice that was decidedly calmer than before, "Yes, Dr. Bradley?"

"I was wondering," Bradley began modestly in his estuary English accent, "could I have a word on the fire children, if I may?"

Danie wanted to interject, because she wanted an explanation for her infliction. However, her body went limp, and she slumped into Heero's cool arms. She exhaled again, but this time, it was one of relief, for some of the heat had abated. Heero's unshaven face loomed above her and she found herself unable to focus, unable to speak.

"Perhaps we should do something for her…" Heero's voice sounded like it was slowly being drowned until it was lost in a gurgle of water.

If there was a reply, Danie didn't hear it. The cool darkness came and swallowed her whole.

**1.3**

Some minutes later, Heero laid an unconscious Daniella Thomas down on an examination table in Dr. Ferdinand Bradley's domain. The area, too vast to be called a mere office, was a combination medical examination room, laboratory, and study. Danie's skin was flushed and feverish, and her eyelids fluttered erratically. Ingrid and Stella watched with varying degrees of interest and concern as Ferdinand waved Heero back and began to examine her.

"Hmm..." With a breath of power, Ferdinand forced her eyelids to pause at half-mast. Her violet eyes were now the color of the setting sun. "It seems that the seal placed on her power is slowly breaking down, thanks to the little jolt from our White Star Prophet." Ingrid frowned at this but said nothing. He muttered more under his breath, but no one could decipher it. He grabbed an odd-looking scope from a shelf and gazed through it over Danie's chest. "What is this most intriguing power signature...? Oh yes, I see now...one of the House of Nova...ah...haven't heard of one of those since Tristan Owens was White Star Prophet. Frenzied times those were."

He met Heero's inquiring gaze as he moved to grab a book off another shelf. "Oh right. I was going to answer your inquiry on the fire children before Ms. Thomas fell into this catatonic state-which, I tell you, is quite lucky for us-especially me because I've never the pleasure of beholding one of these elusive specimen. If she were awake now she possibly wouldn't be able to control herself, and I've no idea how this would affect us since we are immortal." He paused and flipped through the book. "But I tell you one thing, I am hardly willing to find out.

"Prophetess, Your Highness," Ferdinand started, "may I humbly beg for your permission to speak about the fire children?"

"Please proceed, Dr. Bradley," Stella responded. "I do believe all of this was before my time and I am curious about the subject."

"I thank you, Your Highness." He closed the book with a snap and put it aside. His voice fell into lulling tones when he spoke again.

"About four thousand years ago, there was a royal family of fire children that inhabited the Sun. Their kingdom was the Kingdom of Nova, their ruler, King Orion. He had three children, one of whom was illegitimately conceived in pure hush-hush style-a second son I believe. The heir, Aidan, and his half-brother Fiore got into a skirmish during an uprising of rebel citizens when Fiore killed him. The third child, a daughter named Tonari, managed to escape with Aidan's daughter before Fiore could kill her as well. Smart girl, that was.

"When Aidan's daughter Zoë reached maturity," Ferdinand continued, "she learned that she was part of the royal family and the rightful heir. Tonari had kept this from her deliberately to shield her from her half-uncle, who would have probably had her killed on sight. She presented her evidence to the necessary parties and Fiore was promptly de-throned. Zoë ruled for centuries before passing it down to her daughter, and then her daughter had a daughter, named Aidanne.

"Aidanne was a legendary ruler, more than her great-great-grandfather Orion. Her glory and natural power reverberated throughout the universe, which was even more tragic considering her end."

As Ferdinand hesitated to take a sip of water, Heero queried, "So what happened to Queen Aidanne?"

"Her beloved kingdom was invaded by aliens, and the only way she could destroy them was to kill them and herself, rendering Nova extinct. Before doing so, however, she sent shuttles of her remaining citizens—including her children Ambrose and Aida—away so they would have the chance to survive."

"So these shuttles ended up on Earth?" Heero guessed.

"Yes...and no," Ferdinand responded and put the water aside. "One did...and the other ended up in the Nether Regions."

Stella gasped, ice blue eyes wide. "The War of the Inferno. So that's what they spoke of..."

"But I thought the War was fought between fire children," Ingrid said, uttering a sound for the first time since they had entered the room.

"In essence, it originated between fire children—Aidanne's children against a malevolent cousin, who, and I would bet my volumes of Newton on it, could have been connected to the bastard king Fiore-probably the most epic family feud since the War of the Roses. However, as time went on, the altercation involved more than just fire children and threatened to dismantle the peaceful existence that had those on Earth and in other realms had come to enjoy, so the War had to end. Higher powers stepped in-namely Tristan and a band of fierce Archangels-and systematically eradicated the fire children." His mouth quirked on one side. "And despite their overzealous genocide, Crown Princess Aida—the poor prince met his end during combat—and a handful of other fire children survived and learned to blend in-some among the mortal world and others..." His eyebrows quirked this time and he pointed at the ground in lieu of explanation.

Heero jerked his chin in Danie's direction. "Which kind is she?"

Ferdinand looked very excited then, hazel eyes twinkling. "Oh-and trust me folks, this is the best part: she's _both_."

Dread drained him of energy, because after all, he did-albeit unknowingly-bring Danie to Astrophil, and if any chaos broke out of Danie's doing, they would certainly punish him as well. That would certainly end his mission even before it'd had a chance to begin. Calling it bad luck would be an understatement. "I don't see how that could be the best part."

Ferdinand scoffed, waving off the statement. "Oh come now! Have a bit of imagination, will you? You yourself said that she was able to set fire to your weapon. Don't you even find that the least bit remarkable?"

Heero mulled over this, reviewing the events in the alley. Meanwhile, Ingrid closed her eyes and willed the room to go dark. A moment later, a diminished reconstruction of the fight played in the middle of the room. Ferdinand reacted as if he were watching a fascinating movie, interjecting at the hologram during parts that appealed to him.

When it faded away and the lights went up, Ingrid opened her eyes and frowned. "Dr. Bradley—"

More sober now, Ferdinand held up a hand. "Ingrid, not to worry. I can fix her up so that she doesn't blow herself or others to smithereens." He walked to the laboratory portion of the room and started grabbing various chemicals from the shelves. "However, she needs to be guarded and I trust that you can figure a way to best handle her protection. Now that the seal has been broken, she is like a lightning rod for anyone who will deem her powers dangerous or beneficial."

"The Celestial Council is already uneasy about her presence," Stella added as Ferdinand began mixing things together and muttering to himself. "We should make sure she safely gets to Earth before they decide to do something hasty."

There was a long silence. Heero found Ferdinand, Ingrid, and Stella staring expectantly at him.

"You are not seriously saying that I have to guard this woman, are you?" Heero asked, dead-pan.

Ingrid sighed, looking slightly vexed. "Heero, I understand you had certain expectations about your mission, but Danie now is part of that mission. Dr. Bradley is right—she _is _special. We can use her to our advantage, and I would rather have her on our side. That too is a subject we need to broach with the Council," she said to her sister. Stella agreed, considering.

"She also needs someone to…help her hone her gift," Ferdinand remarked meaningfully, adding a pinch of dried ambrosia to his fire-soul-calming mixture. "And who better to do the job than the rising star of the Archangel Academy?"

Heero death-glared him, not caring that Ingrid and Stella were in the room. "Go to hell, Bradley," Heero retorted.

"I'll save you a seat," Ferdinand shot back merrily. "But in the meantime, my friend…" He rounded his table and presented the cross-armed Heero with a corked bottle. "Daddy has to make sure his little darling takes her very important medicine two times a day or she will become an uncontrollable fire brat and the stodgy old Council will get their underpants in a bunch." An eyebrow twitched and directions magically appeared on the bottle. "There it is in writing if some reason this all gets muddled in the process."

Giving Ferdinand an irritated glare that would definitely cause damage if it could kill, Heero snatched the bottle away and put it safely away. He strode to Danie and carefully hefted her into his arms. Moments later, he flashed them both to Earth.

_Pause._

"How long do you think they'll last?" Ingrid wondered aloud.

Stella sighed languorously. "Forever," she responded breathily.

Ferdinand snorted. "I give 'em a week before he comes back with his bum charred to hell." Stella fumed at him. "Ahem. Sorry."


End file.
